The information age has produced an explosion of content for people to read. This content is available in the form of tangible media such as books, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, manuals, guides, references, articles, reports, documents, etc., that exist in print, as well as in the form of electronic media. The Internet has facilitated an even wider publication of content in electronic form through downloading the content in web pages, portable document files, and e-books, among other formats.
The widespread availability of content in electronic form has presented new opportunities for Internet retailers to sell both traditional (i.e., tangible) works and electronic content to consumers. As with any purchase, consumers are unwilling to risk the online purchase of a book or other published work that they may not fully enjoy or that may not otherwise meet their expectations. For works that are purchased online, but do not meet the expectations of the consumer, returning the work is oftentimes a time-consuming process. One way to mitigate the risk that a customer will be unhappy with an online purchase of a work is to allow the consumer to electronically preview sample portions of the digital version of the work, essentially the electronic equivalent of browsing through the pages of a book or other published work in traditional brick-and-mortar stores. By providing limited and free access to digital content, Internet retailers have been able to enhance the online purchase process.
Unfortunately, not all consumers appreciate the value of previewing sample portions of a work before making a purchase. In particular, some consumers are loath to pay for a work when they can view the work for free. They may be tempted to avoid purchasing the work altogether by simply viewing as much of the work as possible electronically and, in some cases, even producing an unauthorized copy of the viewed portions for later consumption. Moreover, like other forms of marketing, allowing viewers to electronically preview works in electronic form costs money. Unless such marketing is shown to increase sales, electronic booksellers may not be able to justify the cost of converting works into an electronic form that may be previewed by consumers.